George Lucas Isn’t Involved With the ‘Indiana Jones 5’ Story

We’re still not sure exactly when the new Indiana Jones sequel will happen, but not long ago, Disney and Lucasfilm confirmed that Steven Spielberg is returning to direct Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones 5. David Koepp, who worked on the screenplay for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (insert sad trombone) is also reuniting with Spielberg for the upcoming sequel, and according to him, there’s one notable person who won’t be involved — at least on the story level.

While speaking with Collider to promote Inferno (the new DaVinci Code sequel, which he also wrote), Koepp was asked for a status update on Indiana Jones 5. The screenwriter, who also collaborated with Spielberg on Jurassic Park and War of the Worlds, said that George Lucas isn’t involved with developing the story for the new Indy sequel:

He’s not, to my knowledge. I’ve had no contact with him.

According to Disney and Lucasfilm’s original announcement about the project, Lucas is on board as an executive producer — which makes sense, given that he was involved with the first four films and came up with the story ideas for each of them. This is the first Indy movie that won’t have a story by Lucas, who came up with the much-derided Crystal Skull concept. So although Koepp, who wrote that film, is scripting the new sequel, there’s a chance that this one will be a step up from its predecessor.

There’s more from Koepp on his experience and what he learned from working on Kingdom of the Crystal Skull over at Collider, but when asked specifically about what we can expect from Indy 5, he offered this hilarious response:

I’m deeply immersed as we speak. All I can say is that there’s lots of aliens and Indy dies at the end (laughs). Lots of hiding in lead-lined refrigerators, aliens, and he dies. Should go over very well.

As for when the sequel might begin filming, Koepp seemed hopeful about next fall, noting that although his schedule is pretty open at the moment, it largely depends on Spielberg. Right now, the director is in production on his adaptation of Ready Player One, and in addition to Indiana Jones 5, he’s plotting The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara with Mark Rylance and Oscar Isaac, and It’s What I Do with Jennifer Lawrence.